I’m a segmented sleeper, and am usually up between 2 and 5 a.m. on any given morning. I sometimes pass the time by giving sympathy and advice to sufferers on the /r/misophonia subreddit. Recently, I’ve noticed a trend of teenagers complaining about their parents hassling them about wearing headphones at the dinner table. As a father of teenagers, a headphone enthusiast, a music lover, and a Misophonia sufferer, I feel I am uniquely qualified to advise in these situations when asked.

The Newcastle Paper is really riding the news cycle. Prettymucheverypost to /r/misophonia this past week has been an article about the study. That is awesome! However, I feel I need to point out a common misconception I see repeated in many of these articles—especially by those who suffer from Misophonia: that loudness is a factor for trigger sounds. It is not, and I think saying otherwise can cause avoidable hardships down the line.

A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published a piece by Elizabeth Bernstein that didn’t go over very well with the misophonia community. I have been asked for my thoughts on this article by a few friends, and now that I’ve had a few weeks to gather them, I think I finally have something useful to contribute.

Misophonia, or Selective Soft Sound Sensitivity, or 4S is one of those totally crazy, whacked out, voodoo mental disorders you hear about on prime-time investigative network TV shows. It’s real, though. I know, because I’m pretty sure I have it.